


At the End

by ataraxetta



Category: Tales of Xillia
Genre: Angst, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Ficlet, Gen, Xillia 2 Spoilers
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-16
Updated: 2020-08-16
Packaged: 2021-03-06 00:59:57
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 651
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25934779
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ataraxetta/pseuds/ataraxetta
Summary: Ludger needs a shoulder to cry on after chapter 15, and the one he seeks out is a little surprising.
Comments: 4
Kudos: 17





	At the End

**Author's Note:**

> This is a ficlet I wrote a few years back after first playing Xillia and Xillia 2. I found it this morning and cleaned it up. It's only about ~600 words, but I figured it was okay to post to AO3.

**At the End**

Ludger's a wreck after it's done. He returns from whatever fractured dimension he was in fully transformed and mid-collapse, knees buckling before his feet even hit the ground. He pushes himself back to his feet, breathing in weird echoing gasps, making urgent, throaty sounds that break off abruptly. His lips move without sound, and then he swings around, lurches a few steps back from the red pool still forming under Julius, squares his shoulders, clenches his fists, throws his head back, and roars. It's deafening, voice unnaturally layered and so powerful it rocks the boats in the harbor. The guards lined up around the perimeter all raise their weapons, unsettled. Alvin can't blame them, he's close to shaking in his boots himself; it's pretty damn terrifying. But then the Chromatus armor and wicked scythe melt away, and all that's left is a kid who's just lost his big brother.

He's all wide-eyed anguish and staggering grief, fat tears rolling down his cheeks and blood that isn't his sticky on his hands and face and splotched on his shirt front. He takes a step and his legs nearly buckle. Most of the others are closer and Jude steps up ready to break the inevitable fall, but eerie green eyes seek out Alvin, and that's who Ludger stumbles toward.

Startled, unprepared, and still armed, Alvin drops his broadsword and tosses his gun to the closest able body among his friends. He just manages to catch Ludger under the arm with one hand before the kid's legs give out, and directs the fall into himself instead of face first into the cobblestone, grunting upon impact - boy's dense as a rock. “Uh...”

Over Ludger's ducked head, the kids and Teepo are all staring at Alvin with the same nonplussed expression, and behind them Gaius and Milla tilt their heads in perfect sync like a pair of thoughtful cats, and Rowen arches an eyebrow.

The disbelief would be unflattering if Alvin weren't as uncomfortable as he definitely is. Besides, he gets it. He and Ludger get on like a house on fire but emotional distance is Alvin's MO and his damage includes an unfavorable opinion on tears and inexperience in all human contact that isn't sex, fighting, or a companionable clap on the back. He's not exactly the poster boy for TLC, and when it comes down to it any one of the others is probably a better friend.

But Ludger isn't looking for a friend. He's looking for his brother, and between seven spectacularly earnest golden-hearted weirdos from Reize Maxia, and Alvin, there's really no contest for closest - if still poor - substitute. He isn't a damn thing like Julius, doesn't have a twelfth of his character, but he thinks, maybe, he carries the same kind of darkness inside him that Julius did. Maybe Ludger senses that too.

"Hey, there," Alvin says after a few awkward moments. His balance is off, knees bent at an uncomfortable angle. He squeezes Ludger's shoulder. "How about we get you sitting down?" Ludger makes an aborted noise in his throat. When Alvin tries to lower him to the ground, he curls the fingers of both hands into the lapels of Alvin's suit jacket until his knuckles turn white. Alvin says, "Okay, how about I sit too."

It's not real graceful, but Alvin eventually manages to get his ass down on the ugly brick without having to dislocate one of his hips to do it, legs bent and spread around Ludger. Ludger pitches forward on his knees, shoulders tense and hunched so he can press his forehead hard to Alvin's collarbone, hide his face in Alvin's jacket and muffle a scream, his shoulders starting to shake. Alvin's heart clenches a little, what strings are left there tugging hard. He lifts a hand to the nape of Ludger's neck and squeezes. He can’t think of anything to say.

-End-


End file.
